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With all due respect, MUKRIZ AS AN INDIVIDUAL IS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE, what is FUNDEMENTAL is the type of issues or 'PERJUANGAN' that he's fighting for regardless of whether he's anak Mahathir or not. Never forget that nobility need not be inherited-After all, Nabi Nor was one of the greatest prophets, but for all his efforts, he still coudnt change his son.

One of the primary reason why the Malays find themselves in this current rut, is simply because Umno, for too long is personality driven instead of being issue driven.Or more often than not, who ever is given a post by the PM, is supported by all and sundry, blindly.

Now, Mahathir is the most responsible chap for turning this mess into a UMNO characteristic -and because there's no logical criteria in supporting potential leaders, we are witnessing today people like Anwar Ibrahim going on a global campaign to dismantle the NEP or NEP derived policies- exactly the policies that he, when as deputy president, was mandated to defend and implement. This may have come as a suprise to mahathir, or some others, but, to those of us who have even a casual interest in Anwar, this supposed 'metamorphasis' isnt surprising in the least.

On the contarary, it is expected.Why?

simply because a philosophy of nation building which is built on the soveriegnity of the socio-economic and socio- cultural framework of the malays is something that dosent correspond with Anwar's immature and simplistic sense of social justice. And in his rejection of this, Anwar Ibrahim has been remarkably consistant for decades- from before, during and after his Umno days.

So i dont believe that DR M didnt know about it, he simply didnt care. And since it didnt matter to DrM, it surely didnt matter to the Umno masses.

Of coures, there were one or two lonely voices who out of love, loyalty and most importantly understanding of Umno, who expressed thier reservations but they were quickly given the coup de grace.

But, instead of learning his lessons with anwar, our esteemed former premier decided to repeat his folly with the appointment of AAB. Of course, formally, we all know that AAB was the vice-president and all that, but in appointing a potential PM, there surely must be some other basis, like for instance, AAB's mastery of the issues that threatend the Malays like globalization or misunderstanding of islam. Or maybe, it ws AAB's great eloquance in articulating our national interest, but hang on..Pak Lah has trouble speaking coherantly.So on what respectable basis was the decision to hand over power made? Oh, i forgot, in Pak Lah's case there was also the Kali, Khairy factor...these blokes are just malay clones of Lee Kuan Yews Malaysia Malaysia and they have been telegraphing it for some time now..even whwn AAB was DPM. But again, Mahathir choose to ignore it..and Umno decided to endorse it.

And dont forget there was also Najib, and the rest of the Umno leadership- in the main, hardly inspiring in the least but also supported by Umno members because they were appointed by the President on a basis that no one could fanthom.( credit to Najib though, he does try to improve and he has)

And this example of anwar & co, leads me back to the issue of Mukhriz in particular and Umno in general:

On what basis should support be given and on what basis should promotions of individuals be made?

Have we heard Mukhriz even briefly articulate his position on the following issues, issues of which Malay lives and livelihood are at stake:

Note: Waving a keris and behaving like a thug does not count- on the contaray it ia harmful

2. How to navigate the threats posed by globalization?It is not the rosy picture that its advocates are painting...lives are stake my fellow Malaysians

3. The questions raised by the Bangsa Malaysia advocates.. Actually the problem with the concept of Bangs Malaysia is not really with the concept pe se, but rather with some non-malay defination of it, witch is unconstitutional,incongrues with the social contract and ultimately, immoral and unethical.The fact that it undermines malay interest is secondary, the fact that first and foremost that its unjust is the primary reason why we should reject as it is currently defined.

If it is not define in the spirit of Malay SOVERIGHNITY, in accordance with the social contract and the constitution, the Bangsa Malaysia concept would just mean a perpetuation of the evils of colonialism

4. The problems faced by Islam, the misunderstood religion

5. His understanding of the lingo of international politics...democracy, human rights, freedom of individual, press and all that other boring stuff of which if not understood properly could result in the direction of our country being defined by others.

Actually in many ways our country's direction is already being define by others. In a sense, the selling out to Singapore alone warrants Umno to change its name to PAP cawangan semenanjung.

So my dear friends, fellow brothers and sisters, other kindred spirits whether of malay and non malay lineage, my appeal to you is this:

When giving support give it on the right basis.Support someone because of what he stands for and proof of this is the individuals willingness to make sacrafice's for what he beleives. Otherwise, its just lip service.

Remember, that politics is about serving others and not yourself-it is not a buisness enterprise to make money, or an easy living.So when supporting someone make sure that he has the best qualities to serve OUR interest and not his.If this person is Mukhriz that support him even if you have to pay a penalty, but if its not, then find someone else.

And what applies for our support to an individual, also apllies to political parties.After all, what differentiates one party from another, is the cause that its fighting for. If the perjuangan is the same, might as well just have one party.

Thats the reson today we are seeing signs that Umno is changing into a cheap clone of the PAP. The name maybe differant, but the perjuangan seems the same.

DONT GET ME WRONG. I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO NOT SUPPORT UMNO.SUPPORT IT BUT MAKE EVERY EFFORT THAT IT STAYS TRUE TO ITS CAUSE, THAT IT JUSTIFIES ITS OWN NAME AND IS NOT HIJACKED BY OTHERS. SO DONT SUPPORT INDIVIDUALS BLINDLY-THEY ARE IMPORTANT ONLY WHEN THEY ENCAPSULATE UMNO'S PERJUANGAN.AS INDIVIDUALS PE SE, THEY ARE IMMEATERIAL

With respects to Maddison" We must the have ambition to curb ambition"

When giving support to candidates, Umno has a lot to learn from the MCA.

They dont have a majority of seats, their membership does not number in the millions, but they have gotten almost all that they wanted and without the malay's raising a murmur-Universiti TAR, a national holiday almost at par with hari raya, tv channels specifically caterd for them,and the oppurtunity to go through an educational system, from entry to tertiary without using the national language!

That my friends is when you measure the success of a a party in terms of concrete acheivement which is the result of choosing issue driven leaders.

The jews in America are also another example of being smart.They dont control any party but whether the President, Congress or the Senate is Republican or Democrat, thier interests are gurenteed.

The Jews have long recognized that winning parliamentry seats is just a means to an end, not an end in itself. If you can device a method whereby you can acheive your objectives without having any seats in Parliament, then so much the better.When seen in this light, one can see simarlarities in MCA's mondus operandi.

How do they acheive this? Because they are in charge of the national debate and they make sure they get the right people who can carry it out.

As such i end my comments with a little question that i would like us all to consider:

If, one day, Umno won all the seats that it contested, but after winning, are actually driven by other peoples issues would that be a victory for Umno, or is that the ultimate defeat?Umno being used to champion other peoples causes?

UMNO was not only 'used' by local political parties to pursue their agenda but UMNO was used by other countries as well. One example was when Communism was thriving, the US used UMNO to spread her propaganda that communist is godless hence it should not be supported. The US then was at war(cold?) with the USSR. When Iraq was to be attacked by US's Bush Sr in 1981, former PM Mahathir(UMNO) gave his 'sincere' consent in the name of democracy. UMNO will readily accept this 'used' roles whenever the price is right. In short, UMNO is a totally used party.

ApologeticusFormal argumentation in defense of something, such as a position or system.

Ad NationesONE proof of that ignorance of yours, which condemns whilst it excuses your injustice, is at once apparent in the fact, that all who once shared in your ignorance and hatred, as soon as they have come to know it, leave off their hatred when they cease to be ignorant; nay more, they actually themselves become what they had hated, and take to hating what they had once been.

and De Praescriptione THE State and Condition of these Times demand of Us to give this Admonition, viz. That we ought not to be surpriz'd at the Rise of the present 16 Heresies either that they are, for they were presignified; or that they subvert and undermine the Faith of some Men; for For this Cause |13 Heresies are, that our Faith by suffering Temptation might shew itself approved. The Rise and Progress then of Heresies is by no Means a just Cause of Offence, tho' many are rashly and inconsiderately offended at them. How much greater Reason would they have for Wonder and Astonishment, were there no such Thing as Heresy to be met with in the World? Whatever has a Being, has also a Cause of that Being. It has a certain Energy whereby it is, and which implies an Impossibility of it's not being .)

it is right time, for Malaysian of all races and religious teach BN a few lessons, so that they won't end up as Golkar in Indonesia or Congress in India.

it is high time for us to use our vote wisely, so that our MP's learn how to debate well and debate with facts as seen in Singapore Parliament, where we can see how good Lee Kuan Yew rebutts every single arguments by the opposition.

Tun used to debate very well and most of the time Lim Kit Siang will bite the bullet back, some with Karpal, but this days our PArliament seems to be more like a circus show with filthy words exchange between two sides.

do u people realised that harping on race is counter-productive?do u people realise that the country is built by the Chinese and foreigners?when will you start to trust non-malays?is it because of what u've done to non-malays that find it hard to trust them to have your best interests at heart?

whether u like it or not, umno represents malaysians as they are the largest political party and we vote for them using MCA as a proxy

there is a whole new generation of malaysians who calls malaysia their motherland

we are sick of being called immigrants and being treated like second class citizens

and tertuillion - it is not true that the Chinese got Utar without much of a murmur...only after about 50 years of struggle did we see the dream materialise

When earliar i wrote that individuals are not important, it was an oversimplification. After all, organizations, parties and goverments are nothing but a collection of individuals working for a common objective and the the quality of the individual members determine the quality of the party.

In this regard, to me there's nothing wrong if we memuji-muji DR MAHATHIR because he deserves all those accolades and more. Our support for Tun is not as Mahathir the individual, but as Mahathir, the great defender, promoter and articulator of our national interest.

And since he is soo effective in that role, Mahathir in many ways can no longer be seen purely as an individual but also as a national symbol. So when we meuji- muji beliau, in truth we are celebrating the truth and veracity of of our own cause, and the cause of our forefathers

As an individual he has his flaws and some of it we are paying for it now. It is fair for us to point this out. But as a national symbol he has to be defended, because, in doing so, we are merely defending ourselves.

In so many ways he encapsulates our national struggle- the decades long struggle to redeem our collective dignity. And remember, in Mahathir's case it wasn't lip service- more than once he has paid the ultimate price for standing up to what he fights for, our national interest, and today he is paying for it again.

But Mukhriz hasnt done that so we cannot give him that blank check of trust.Our support cannot be given for free because nyawa dan periuk nasi is at stake! Dan paling penting maruah! Never forget that history gave birth to Umno because of maruah!

But policies , for it to be effective, has to take into account real life.And in the real world, race means alot( whether that's bad or good is a differant matter). Race is an integral aspect of our identities. You dont have to go far for evidence- just look at your names- and many people are very proud of their names and are willing to sacrifice leg and limb for it.

But that's just for our names, a very individual thing. Now can you imagine how much importance people put to other aspects of their identity, especialy common characteristics and territories shared over hundreds, and in the case of the Chinese, thousands of years.

So its very well and good to say that race should'nt matter, but that's running away from reality. Such idealism may be good for the individual involved, but policies and politics cannot afford to do that.

On the contarary, policies , if it were to have any hope of being successful, must be base on hard, cold reality. It has to be base on facts- there's simply no running away from that. The day that policies are divorce from reality and facts, is the day we should all dread.

Just remember the age old wisdom 'History is litterd with tragedies that started from good intentions'

In other words, good intentions are just a prerequsite, but not sufficient, requirement of succesful policies and politics.

By the way, the very fact that their exist Universiti TAR, and that your willing to, I quote, "struggle" for it for over 50years, is evidence that race matters very, very much,even for a Chinese like you.(And looking at how UMNO is no longer issue driven, maybe it even matters more than for the average Malay)

If it doesn't there's no need for it is there?

So until the day humanity says identity is not important,for good or bad, race based politics is here to stay my chinese brother/sister.

true true. i am v idealistic n i agree that sadly in reality, race really matters to most malaysians.

your reply kinda woke me up a bit.

agree with most that u've said, but think that we should start to implement policies such that race will slowly matter less.

re UTAR, i can't remember if it was 50, i am kinda young but it took some time. i believe the uni was proposed after the quota system was introduced at all local universities, and many other education policies such as changing the language of instruction in UM to Malay, putting Chinese students at a disadvantage.

u also said: 'History is littered with tragedies that started from good intentions'i would argue that the NEP is one such tragedy.

i am hesistant to go into a debate on why race-based policies are ineffective. just google and i am sure you will find many authorative articles on it.

but just want to add that, at the end of the day, 'race' is just an idea =)

Its a wonder you feel like a second class citazen..its more than you deserve. With this kind of 'immigrant mentality' I don't know if you even qualify to be a citazen...because you definately wont be in France, Britain, USA, Australia and all those other so- called libral 'Advance country".

How lucky this freelunch fellow is, dont even know the basics of how he got his citezenship, wanna talk about who built this country !Tak tahu apa-apa, nak bagi kuliah!

Freelunch, i suggest you do some reading -lots of it! because to say 'the chinese and foreigners built this country' indicates the degree of your 'kejahilan' which is amazing! am tempted to use another stronger, more accrate and more deserving word but as an 'old school' malay,I'll accomadate your st......ty- although son, you don't deserve it! Lucky you, i've just finish my subuh prayers and Islam tells us to be patient

I cant believe that i didnt see it the first time i read your post..and what i'm seeing now. How could you think that the chinese and foreigners built this country?? Man, for a Malaysian to be so ignorant of Malaysia's history is not only wrong,its dangerous.

Look, there's no point for me to try to demonstrate to you by argument how wrong you are.. your ignorance of Malaysian history is so self evident, you wouldn't know if i'm making it all up or i'm just stating 'historical' facts.

So, my suggestion is that you go and get some history textbooks and do some serious,serious reading on the events leading up to Merdeka.

And since most history textbooks today are written by Malay's or in collaboration with Malay's i can even suggest a specific textbook by an authour whose objectivity you can't question.

Its a slightly older textbook so there's a possibility its hard to come by-so you have to put in some effort . But if you still cant find it, I'll gladly borrow mine.

And btw Freelunch, after you've read it, i want you to make the nessacary appologies for writing this utter rubbish, which i quote" do you people realize that the country is built by chinese and foreigners".

No, freelunch we don't realize that, because its factually n patently wrong . And after reading Tan Ding Eing's textbook, you will realize that to.(here's a hint to speed up your reading:read under AMCJA)

In fact, you will realize that not only is this country not built by the Chinese but if it wasn't for the Malay's and UMNO, there wouldn't be such a thing as a 'Malaysian' chinese in presant day Malaysia.

Kapeesh?

And don't forget to say thank you after your appologies. Its the 'Malaysian' thing to do.Not for the book, but for being a citazen

"God created humans with the capacity to think and to reason. If humans reason wrongly, it is not God that has caused them to reason that way. They are given the faculty to think, but they reason wrongly.

Sometimes we make mistakes. It is not God makes mistakes. We made mistakes, because our capacity to think and reason is not so good. There is not only single person on this earth who is exactly the same as another.

God creates no two people the same. Even twins are not the same. How is it that with six billion people in the world, no two persons look alike, think alike or behave alike. We cannot explain except to say it is the will of God."

As much as I enjoyed reading my Sejarah Malaysia, perhaps we should think in terms of the state of the Malaysian economy, where the bulk of the taxes come from, and think in terms of foreign investments - Intel, Motorola, etc, before we start criticising.

but the country (by this i mean its infrastructure and economy) is built by the chinese and foreigners.who built KLCC, Putrajaya, our roads, Bakun dam, etc etc?yes, the contracts given to bumis but WHO really BUILT it? WHO had the knowledge and skills?

the recent equity figures show that we still dominate the economy, including construction.

AMNAT (tertuillion i have abbreviated your name) regarding malaysian history texts, those you've recommended may not be the best source. I read various history texts - some from British sources, Chinese sources, etc etc. But again I don't profess to be a historian.

i am not apologising. u guys should stop being so sensitive and running amok every time someone tells the truth.

Freelunch honestly, each time you open your mouth, your just advertisng your ignorance

In your first comment the gist of what you said is this" we shouldnt harp on race" implying of course that you dont. Immediately after that you talk about how the chinese struggled for fifty years to get university Merdeka.

C HOW U CONTRADICT YOURSELF?

In your second post, after reading Tertullion's reply,you admited that he woke you up a bit- wow! that's an understatement! Be honest and say that he woke you up alot-u were in deep sleep man..because what he said was really common sense, it was staring at you straight in the face and you couldnt see it all your life

also you said your too idealistic, implying that you dont think race shuld matter to much to Malaysian's.Pray tell my young friend where does race does not matter too much?Japan, Korea, France, Germany? And then you talk again about Universiti Merdeka's basis for existance, citing the use of the national language would put you chinese at a disadvantage?

AGAIN, C HOW U CONTRADICT YOURSELF?

Why should it? Especially to a peson like you who said several times that race is not important? If that's true the first thing that shouldn't matter is language

Bahasa Malaysia is the national language, in Malaysia that means it dosen't belong just to the Malays, it belong also to the chinese and the indians but your to blinkerd to see that.

To demand using a medium of instruction which is not in the national language doesn't happen in most so-called advance countries in the world. french is used in france, english is used in england why not MALAY in MALAYsia?Give me some reason apart from the obvious one that the Chinese are very chauvenistic which is a polite word for ( )'

Have you heard the saying when in "Rome do as the Romans do". Its a universal principle, so why don't the Malaysian chinese abide by it?

And then you contradict yourself again by saying Prof Khoo and the authour mite not be the best people to refer to, because you said you've got Bristish and chinese sources without mentioning names of course..Conveniant huh?And then of course you showed us your bravery by saying 'I'm no historian of course'

Of course your not, or else you would know whether Prof Khoo is significant or otherwise.Also that means your not qualified to even suggest that those two historian's are 'maybe not the best sorces'.

So why don't you take up tertullions challenge?He was fair enuf to even give two malaysian historians of your ethnicity..and there's alot of Malay one's that i myself can cite.But you don't trust them do you?.....Hypocritical, considering that you accuse the malay's in your first posting of not trusting the non-malay's.. But you prefer to trust your source's instead, even before taking up the challenge.. very, very brave

What have you got to lose?

Scared of the truth?

Young man, in just two post's you have contradicted yourself numerous time's and not on differant 'complex' issues but on the same 'simple' issue.

you clearly have shown that u have not thought about alot of your premises, even on simple things.

So why do you feel so confident about your statement 'this country is built by the chinese and foreighners' which by any stretch of the immagination is something very, very contentious even for experts

but again you betray your lack of confidence by refusing flatly tertullion's offer..

AGAIN U CONTRADICT YOURSELF

MY REQUEST IS THAT BEFORE ACCUSING OTHERS OF ANYTHING PLS SHOW THAT YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT FIRST...SIMPLE THINGS

I'm a malay but i look like a chinese-fair skin, small eyes, etc-etc, so when i was studying in australia, i got lot of stick from some Australians- a lot of them think that asians are only chinese and their quite anti- asian like pauline hansen.

I often wonder why, but after reading 'Freelunch' i guess i have my answer.

when i say race doesn't matter, i mean that it should not be a deciding factor in any policies and that RACE DOESN'T DETERMINE WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE.

because race is just an idea.

then, due to the situation (reality) in Malaysia, my analysis is done on a racial basis.

regarding my comment on the UTAR and how the Chinese fought for it, it was just an OBSERVATION. i am not against the national language but i am saying that the effect of the policies at that time caused the Chinese to push for their own uni, cos they couldn't get into the local unis.

So, two separate things1. Race doesnt matter in determining who or what you are, ie you can be anything or anyone that you want to be2. My comments are based on race because that is the reality. I need to use race to describe the reality.

I hope that in the future we would stop being such a racially structured society. this is one of the problems, that because our policies are so race-centric, it is hard to break away from race-based analysis.

An income-based policy for social justice and a meritocratic environment is better.

Anyway everybody, pls don't go into personal attacks and stick to the points.

also, everybody knows that local history texts are so political, it is hard for them to be credible.

again i maintain, based on government figures sanctioned by the PM himself that the non-bumis (Chinese mainly) and foreigners built the country's infrastructure and economy.

I can accept that we're mature and intelligent enough to debate wisely. But we must, at all cost avoid offending religious and communal sensitivities of fellow Malaysians anf fellow debaters.

As such I am stopping further response to Freelunch. We all know that the Malay Peninsular, the Tanah Melayu and the various Malay Sultanates had been in existence long before the Europeans arrived and brought with them workers and traders from the surrounding regions.

assalamualaikum dato'i would like to congratulate u for the existance of 'BLOGGER',n i was shocked when i found this book in a chinese 'totally' comic shop in ....(bukan nama sebenar) ,that's great!

To freelunch,it hurts to read your remark bout this country.It does and i'm not exaggerating if i tell you,im angry.truly i am.malays and UMNO has been fighting against British,Japanese and almost with every single invaders of this beloved country.I didn't know any chinese involved with the malay army 60-50 years ago.not even indians.I watched sarjan Hassan, freelunch,didn't you?Where were the chinese at that time?when the japanese are looking for your heads,who are there to defend both of this country and the chinese if not the malay ancestors.And as for the foreigners,how many of our golds,properties and our dignity that they have robbed?how many ships sunk in the deep sea with our harta?how many ships managed to reached the buckingham palace?That is what you called membina?building?How many malays are illiterate after merdeka?how many malays have the consiousness and understand the meaning of education after merdeka?it is just 50 years..49 to be precise,only half a century,which is obviously not enough for a single race to stand up by themselves after all of the hardship that we have to go through to be free again.MERDEKA!A tamadun cannot be build in a single night.Malays need help,not insult form the other races which has long gain success and kekayaan even before merdeka.WE are going to defend our right,the right of our children and future.We would be glad if other races,chinese and foreigners want to help,lagi cepat kite boleh hidup sama rata,as equal.But as long as we didn't reached the level or standard required,we will continue with what the goverment has long set up for us.Don't argue as this is our land,our country and our properties from the very beginning.Just sit there and enjoy your free lunch coz that's what you are,everything comes free.If you think that ideas and knowledge are the main things to determine who build a country,than you are a poor man,you couldn't even have a free breakfast with that.There's also spirit,loyalty,strength,sacrifices,tears,blood,soul,feelings,death and life,harmony,intelligence, kindness,LOVE,pemurah,mengasihani,sopan santun etc.Itu lebih bermakna dari sekadar knowledge.Human are builds with emotion,not money or sekadar knowledge.If others are willing to cooperate with us,we can reach equilibrium and stand as equal as fast as e could,but if others refuse,then...wait till we reached it ourselves,by then..enjoy your free lunch once again.(wonder who gave you that lunch,you are not a beggar aren't you?)

About Me

I was born in 1947 in Kedah. I came from a rice farming family. I have been a journalist since 1969. I am the Editor-in-Chief of magazine publishing company, Berita Publishing Sdn Bhd. I was Group Editor NST Sdn Bhd and Group Editor-in-Chief of NSTP Bhd between 1988 and 2000. I write fortnightly column “Other Thots” in the Malaysian Business magazine, Kunta Kinte Original in Berita Harian and A Kadir Jasin Bercerita in Dewan Masyarakat. Books: Biar Putih Tulang (1998), Other Thots – Opinions & Observations 1992-2001 (2001), The Wings of an Eagle (2003), Mencari Dugalia Huso (2006), Damned That Thots (2006), Blogger (2006), PRU 2008-Rakyat Sahut Cabaran (2008), Komedi & Tragedi-Latest in Contemporary Malaysian Politics (2009) and Membangun Bangsa dengan Pena (2009).